In Israel, the days leading up to Purim are filled with merriment, and many of the staff members and patients at Rambam Health Care Campus were happy to join in the fun! Festivities have been held across the campus, and some of the highlights are below.
Rambam employees dressed up for Purim.
Photography courtesy of RHCC
A Costume for Every Child
Hundreds of new Purim costumes were waiting for patients hospitalized in Rambam’s Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital earlier this week, donated by the Shoshi Zohar Store at the initiative of non-profit organization Lev Chabad-Rambam, run by Shmulek and Chana Torkov, with the assistance of the NGO Yad Beyad.
Volunteers from the organizations greeted hospitalized children as they came from different departments to choose their costumes. Some of the costumes were taken by nurses to departments where children could not leave their beds or the ward. “It was especially moving to see the delight of the children from the Psychiatric Unit for Children and Adolescents. It’s so easy to make a child happy, and a big mistake not to try,” notes Chana Torkov.
Volunteers from the Lev Chabad-Rambam Association at the costume fair.
Photography courtesy of Rambam HCC
Masking Up at Rambam Again (But this Time for Fun)
Every year during Purim, hundreds of Rambam employees get into the holiday spirit by coming to work in all sorts of costumes, bearing snacks and gifts for the patients. For this year’s celebrations, Merav Ganot, Director of the Department of Employee Welfare, assembled a panel of judges that viewed and evaluated dozens of masqueraded individuals in over 30 departments. Judging criteria included originality and creativity. Costume themes included current events, hospital life, imaginary social movements, the patient environment, and more.
Rambam employees dressed up as a Rubic's Cube.
Photography courtesy of RHCC
This year’s Purim judges included Dr. Yael Shachor-Meyouhas, Deputy Director of Rambam; Dr. Netanel Horowitz, Director of Hospitalization; Gila Hyams, Director of Nursing; Inbar Shahaf, Director of the Unit of Resource & Market Development and Donor Relations; and Eyal Shterenbach, Deputy Director of Marketing.
Today’s Superheroes
Rambam’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is full of superheroes: the staff who care for these tiny babies around the clock, the parents giving what care they can under challenging circumstances and, above all, the biggest heroes there are, the preterm infants themselves.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that in celebration of Purim, staff members and patients dressed up as superheroes. “It was really exciting," says Revital Wobchuk, a nurse in the NICU who took part in the project. “The parents loved the costumes that we prepared, and there was a sense that they really felt like their children are heroes. They are going through difficult things here, and it was an event that brought smiles to their faces.”
Pictured: Revital Wobchuk and one of Rambam's preterm infants dressed as superheroes. Photography courtesy of Rambam HCC. |
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Rambam employees dressed up as superheroes.
Photography courtesy of RHCC
The Sea Come to the Joan & Sanford Weill Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation
Pirates, ships, and lots of fish… This is what the Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation looked like after undergoing a complete makeover. The corridors were decorated with watercolors of well-known characters and creatures from the depths of the sea, with objects from above and below the waves adorning the walls of each room.
The initiative was generated by a joint effort of three NGOs actively involved in the department: Larger than Life, Lehosheet Yad, and Zichron Menachem, whose volunteers set up the enchanting scenes. To add to the atmosphere, the volunteers were dressed as pirates, pampered the patients with fish-shaped snacks, and created a joyful happening for everyone. The children dove right in!
Rambam employees dressed up as a lifeguard team.
Photography courtesy of RHCC